As one small border town has been overrun by record numbers of illegal foreign nationals pouring through from Mexico, an unlikely group of sheriff’s deputies have come to their aid.
The deputies volunteered to defend the homeland at the border nearly every day, every week, for 30 months. To do so, they traveled roughly 400 miles from a county that stretches from the Houston suburbs to Galveston Island. The island and county are named after the Spanish military leader, Bernardo de Gálvez, who expressed support for the U.S. during the Revolutionary War.
Galveston Island, arguably one of the most popular destinations in Galveston County, has a long military history. Texans began serving at its port, which housed the Texas Navy during the Texas Revolution, and were stationed at Fort Travis and Fort Crockett to implement coastal defenses during World War I and II.
During the Battle of Galveston, Confederate soldiers successfully expelled Union troops in January 1863, making Galveston the only major port under Confederate control at the end of the Civil War.
